By Arun Upadhayay 
New Delhi, April 24: Some events in Indian politics are so extravagant that it can leave a curious spectator in the limbo of over-analysis. In one of those curious moments, Raghav Chadha, in a matter of hours, had a fateful Friday that started with him walking out of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), holding a press conference, boldly claiming that seven of the party’s ten Rajya Sabha MPs had had enough of Arvind Kejriwal, and made a trip to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) hq. On the #FridayAAPinNews, we saw Raghav Chadha make one of the most divisive moves in Indian politics.
The Rajya Sabha Equation Suddenly Shifts
The BJP Rajya Sabha officially gained 3 MPs after a bid to destroy the private narco and mafia style of the Rajya Sabha would be on autopilot, then most likely to succeed.
When AAP was in the cabal with the BJP, they had a mutually beneficial relationship. So long as Kejriwal kept the AAP flock in check, even the BJP would keep the country safe from the concentration of political and moral power in one person.
A Calculated Break and a Personal Statement
The son of a political family, Raghav Chadha’s aspirations of power were well-financed. So with the promise of more in the Rajya Sabha, the party’s pledging of power was bound to lose.
He had been slowly distancing himself from the party for some months, and his justification was clear. Few hours after his resignation, he was stripped of the position of chief in the Rajya Sabha and replaced with someone of a lower stature. That move was described as a punishment to shackle Raghav and silence him in Parliament. He protested by putting out a video entitled ‘Voice Raised Price Paid’. He claimed that his silencing was defeat of his cause.
The appetite for theatrics of the political kind amongst the Indian populace, Chadha kept his tone out till Friday. What then remained was to enact the next move. Chadha’s ambitions had only matured in the Shamata of one of the newly rising political Samrajya of North India, with Raghav Chadha’s crossover as the poster boy of a new Samrajya.
The Press Conference That Changed Everything
Standing at the press conference, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal Chadha’s technical replacement were on either side of Chadha, who had control over his emotions, displaying preparation for the conference. Chadha protested that the party he had spent 15 years campaigning for strayed from its core values and principles. The party abandoned the national and core values for the party and country, and then he declared that line will define his political career, “I am the right man in the wrong party.” The line would stick for good as he repeated the line twice for emphasis.
Chadha also alleged that his absence from party events was because he was against what the party was guilty of. Crimes is not a word that a politician would usually use regarding a party they have spent over ten years with, and this is what made his statement a grenade.
The Constitutional Gamble
The signed merger letters, he said, had already been submitted to the Rajya Sabha Chairman that morning.
As per Chadha, 7 out of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MP’s have merged with the BJP. Business Today, Chadha, Pathak and Mittal were the 3 present at the conference. Maliwal, Gupta, Singh, and Sahney were also named to have signed.
The constitution’s logic is crucial here. The Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution contains the anti-defection law. There is a specific provision that if two-thirds of a party’s legislators vote in favor of merging that party with another party, those legislators cannot be disqualified from that party. The group is trying to assert its position in that provision by claiming seven of ten.
Whether the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha will recognize this is another matter. AAP is likely to challenge this. There will be judicial intervention in this matter. The papers that were submitted this morning have opened a process; it is not the end.
Who Walked Out And Why It Matters
That being said, the constitutional argument has merit. Swati Maliwal’s name on that list is also expected, as her public feud with the Kejriwal’s office has been one of the more notable stories for the past year.
Harbhajan Singh tells a different story. The former captain of the Indian cricket team, after his appointment to the Rajya Sabha in 2022, was a silent presence. His departure, if it happens, will be more about the impact that a mass exodus has rather than his own political beliefs. When seven people walk out of a room together, some of the people are walking out by not leading.
The Meaning of Sandeep Pathak’s Exit
Chadha gets the ice cream, as Chadha always gets the ice cream. The departure that political pundits will be most interested in is Pathak’s.
The Meaning of Sandeep Pathak’s Exit
Pathak was AAP’s backbone. With the position of national general secretary, he took personal charge of the machinery that translated the Punjab 2022 elections from a dangerous flirtation to a victory. He’s the kind of person who is able to execute things behind the scenes, causing AAP to win elections, without having to make numerous television appearances to garner attention.
During the conference, he said he unwillingly imagined this moment. He joined the AAP as he believed the party was doing something new. “Ten years, he said,” and he paused, “and it was a bit of a new prediction.”
It’s an interesting sentiment. Believing so strongly in something for so many years only for it to eventually end like this.
He left AAP, which supports the theory that fractures within AAP aren’t solely a difference in the personality of Chadha and the Kejriwals. The fractures aren’t a petty difference in the expressions of the party either. His position also supports the theory that there was disorganization and unrest within the party.
Punjab: The Real Battleground Behind the Drama
At the end of the day, what’s left after the grievances, the drama, the disagreements, and the resignation is Punjab. That’s all it’s about, really.
AAP has been the ruling party of Punjab since 2022, after winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats, the most decisive victory in Punjab’s recent history. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been in power since then. The recent merger in the Rajya Sabha does not affect the Punjab assembly arithmetic, at least for now.
Sanjay Singh from the AAP claims that the central investigative units of India are being used to apply pressure and attempt to destabilize the Punjab unit of the party. He claims the BJP’s strategy is to attempt to bring down the Bhagwant Mann Government. He is adamant that the citizens of Punjab will never forget that action.
AAP claimed that Operation Lotus was what took place on July 7, 2023. It was a term that the party had used throughout the day. Operation Lotus is the party’s opposing strategy to what they believe is the BJP trying to destabilize the party through ED and CBI pressure to switch party loyalty. It has been alleged in Maharashtra, in Goa, in Karnataka, and now AAP applies the same label to what is happening to its Rajya Sabha group.
The BJP has consistently denied these allegations, and they are doing so again.
Nonetheless, the timing is impressive. The Bhagwant Mann government is not local yet. But a combination of multiple high-profile defections from the party’s parliamentary leadership, coupled with continuing pressure from agencies, creates a case of political anxiety. In Punjab, where AAP’s brand is
built on the promise of clean governance and an alternative to the old system, such a case of political anxiety is a cost incurred.
Kejriwal, Mostly Angry, Rarely Present
As of press time, Arvind Kejriwal was not having a press conference. His public response was being mapped on party channels and on live coverage from India TV News. In his public response, he was seen accusing the BJP of yet again breaking the promises it made to the people of Punjab.
That is the framing AAP wants to conquer, not a party having a crisis, but a party being targeted. Whether the electorate is likely to buy this particular claim heavily depends on the perception of the quality of these defections. Whether it is because seven of the senior MPs have arrived to know on their own that corruption has made the party they are defecting from, well, so be it. Or, perhaps, these MPs have made their defection as a result of coercion, threats, and pressure from agencies.
Indian politics wins sponsors, as this is a question that is likely to have no absolute answer. Both can be true.
Sanjay Singh was the AAP spokesperson carrying out the heaviest job on Friday. He was on the offensive just as much as he was emotional as he referred to departing MPs as the ones who have stabbed Punjab, while striking the entire incident as a BJP conspiracy. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav was more refined as he simply stated that some people do it out of fear, and some do it out of greed. India TV News. He did not mention which he was talking about.
A Party That Changed Indian Politics, Now Changing Itself
The AAP’s genesis was out of the 2012 anti-corruption protests and embraced the rage that common people were feeling about a political class that had grown complacent and unresponsive. When it had a clean sweep of 67 out of 70 seats of the Delhi assembly, the win was historic. It repeated the same in the Delhi assembly elections of 2020 and expanded its base to Punjab in 2022. The AAP was the opposition party that challenged the reigning parties in the regional assembly elections and was really successful.
But Friday’s incident doesn’t erase all of the above. The Punjab government remains. Kegriwal is still an eminent political leader of North India. The Party is also still alive and has a lot of relevance.
Once promising to go against the status quo, the party has become all the things it once criticized. For the first time, all sides of the party are in agreement. Complaints about “crimes” committed are now numerous. “Promises” of shortcomings are now being brought to the surface. No longer held in check, people whom the party has forced to walk in lock step, are now quitting en masse. For the first time in over a decade, the branch of parliament the party has put all faith in has turned its back on the party.
Time will only tell about the full truth, but the reality is a party once proud and self-righteous (as all the others were) that mocked parliament’s forced transactional modernities (frenetic currency of favours and vested interests) is now witnessing the full disintegration of its own parliamentary bodies, in a rare moment of heightened transparency.
The holder of the Rajya Sabha Chair has that letter. The legal team is assembled. AAP’s architect, Raghav Chadha, now with the BJP, has spent the last 15 years building the organization.
What a day.
Stay ahead with Hindustan Herald — bringing you trusted news, sharp analysis, and stories that matter across Politics, Business, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle, and more.
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, and join our Telegram community @hindustanherald for real-time updates.
- Arun Upadhayay
- Arun Upadhayay
- Arun Upadhayay
- Arun Upadhayay
Ananya Sharma